Tragic Alabama Bus Crash Kills Teen Girl, Ends Mission Trip before it Began
- Amanda Casanova ChristianHeadlines.com Contributor
- Updated Jun 13, 2017
![Tragic Alabama Bus Crash Kills Teen Girl, Ends Mission Trip before it Began](https://i.swncdn.com/media/700w/crosswalk/resource/areas/crosswalk/resources/images/defaultimages/article-large-landscape.png)
An Alabama teen was killed and dozens more were injured after a church bus flipped in a crash on its way to the airport for a student mission trip to Africa.
Sarah Harmening, 17, was killed in the crash. She was one of 38 passengers on the bus, mostly carrying 11th and 12th-grade students from Mount Zion Baptist Church in Huntsville, Alabama. A second bus was also carrying students. The groups was on their way to a flight heading toward Botswana.
Harmening's parents said she was "so excited" for the trip.
"She earned all the money to go and share Christ with children of Botswana," her mother Karen said.
In Harmening's final journal entry, she wrote that she was a "a little uncomfortable" about the trip because it was so long, but she then turned to her Bible.
"I prayed, and opened up to 1 Peter 5 and 2 Peter ... I was just reminded of why I am here, and that God has called me here and has done this for a reason," she wrote while on the bus. "I know he is going to do incredible things."
Twenty-four passengers were hospitalized for injuries. The mission trip has been cancelled, reports Christianity Today.
"Our thoughts and prayers go out to all the folks at Mount Zion Baptist," said Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle. "It just pulls at your heart-- people who were going to do mission work being in that. We hold all of those families in our hearts. There's just not much you can say."
Photo courtesy: Thinkstockphotos.com
Publication date: June 13, 2017